Newark council to sink teeth into leash law

Law director favors 'reasonable control'

6:35 AM,
Apr. 29, 2014

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The Newark City Council might soon consider a proposed leash law for dogs that Newark Law Director Doug Sassen calls "a step in the wrong direction."

Current city law requires owners to keep their dogs "under reasonable control" while off their own property. For most people, that means keeping a leash on their dogs in public, Sassen maintains.

But a proposal unanimously forwarded Monday to the council by its Safety Committee drops the "reasonable control" provision in favor of requiring a leash, Sassen said. He contends that, under that proposal, a dog could be on a leash but running loose ...